Tuesday, July 30, 2013

The House GOP beats a dead horse then runs over it with a tractor. Repeatedly.

by digby

This is so idiotic, I honestly cannot understand it. It is the most perfect illustration of the "beating a dead horse" metaphor I've ever seen:

[L]anguage to bar ACORN from receiving any money made the final cut [of the Defense appropriations bill.] Section 8097 of the bill reads, "None of the funds made available under this Act may be distributed to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) or its subsidiaries."

ACORN cannot receive any funding from the U.S. government under any legislation, of course, because ACORN does not exist. Similarly, ACORN has no subsidiaries because ACORN does not exist.

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) referred questions on the provision to House Appropriations Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Hing. "I don't believe our response has changed since the last time you asked this question," Hing told HuffPost.

In June, the last time HuffPost asked Hing about ACORN defunding language, she replied, "These provisions are typically carried every year in appropriations bills."

The time before that, in March, Hing called ACORN defunding language "a typical provision that is included in most appropriations bills."

There has to be a reason for this. What's the point? Are people running on their record of repeatedly defunding ACORN? What else could it be?